Snow plow



R. E. COLE SNOW PLOW Dec. 28, 1937.

Filed Aug. 51, 1936 5 Sheets-Sheet l Dec. 28, 1937. R. E. COLE 2,103,514

SNOW PLOW Filed Aug. 51, 1956 3 Shgets-Sheet 2 11 28, 1937. l R. E. COLE I 2,103,514

SNOW PLOW Filed Aug. 31, 1936 s Sheets-Sheet :5

Patented Dec. 28, 1937 UNITED STATES smear OFFICE Application August 31,

7 Claims.

Snow plows as commonly used. have generally been of the type employing a scraper mounted at the front of a truck or tractor to scrape the snow to the side of the road. This type of snow plow is very objectionable as it results in the formation of banks at the side of the road, which form deep cuts, which readily fill in with drifting snow, which when the drifted snow is again removed, results in the formation of higher banks making conditions worse than before.

Of recent years attempts have been made to devise snow plows capable of distributing the snow over a considerable area at the side of the road to avoid the formation of the objectionable high banks, but such devices have not proven satisfactory in actual use.

My object is to devise a snow plow which will satisfactorily remove snow to any depth likelyto be encountered under any normal conditions 90 and distribute it over a large area at the side of the road to avoid the formation of high banks, to provide such a plow with means for loosening and conditioning packed snow or ice, which often occurs on heavily travelled highways during a storm, so that it may be handled by the regular equipment ofthe plow; and to provide such a plow with a high cutter for knocking down the upper parts of high drifts into the path of the main equipment.

Another object is to construct a plow so that it may be mounted on an ordinary commercial truck chassis and removed therefrom when desired so that the truck may be used in other seasons for other purposes.

A further object is to devise a novel form of mounting for the plow and its power unit,so that the mounting is used to impart weight above the drive wheels of the truck to increase the tractive effect of the latter and at the same time obtain great rigidity in the plow frame, and thus avoid the use of weights of various kinds usually employed with snow plows of the old type togive the truck drive wheels the necessary traction.

I attain my object by means of the constructions hereinafter described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which Fig. l is a side elevation of my improved snow plow applied to a truck;

Fig. 2 a plan view of the same, the plow being shown in section;

Fig. 3 a plan view of the plow only with the high cutter in place;

Fig. 4 a plan view of the plow with the auxiliary cutter in place;

Fig. 5 a front view of the plow;

1936, Serial No. 98,687

Fig. 6 a detail side elevation illustrating a simple form of snow or ice loosening means;

Fig. '7 a detail plan view of the same Fig. 8 a side elevation illustrating a more elaborate form of snow loosening means;

Fig. 9 a plan view of the same;

Fig. 10 a perspective view of one of the cutter drums;

Fig. 11 a perspective view of the blower fan;

Fig. 12 a plan View of the plow with the push attachment for use with a light fall of snow;

Fig. 13 a side elevation of the same;

Fig. 14 a detail showing the method of mounting the cutter blades.

In the drawings'like numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in the different figures.

A, indicates a motor truck of ordinary construction, I being the chassis, 2 the engine hood, and. 3 the drivers cab which is provided with the usual doors l.

13, indicates the supporting means for the motor for driving the snow removing apparatus; and C, indicates the snow removing apparatus.

The engine supporting means comprises a platform 5 on which the engine 6 is mounted. This platform is pivoted at its forward end on a shaft 1 supported in brackets 8 clamped on the chassis l. Extending upwardly and forwardly from the platform 5 are braces 8 and truss rods 9 extend from the upper ends of these braces to the rear of the platform 5.

Heavy springs l0 assist in supporting the rear end of the platform 5.

To the forward end of the chassis l is secured a vertical frame I I, which frame is braced at its lower end by braces l2,-the rear ends of which are secured by the brackets 8.

On this vertical frame H is pivoted the snow plow-frame {3, the pivot being indicated by the numeral ill. Truss rods l4 connect the upper end of the plow frame l3 with the upper ends of the braces 8, and therefore any rocking of the plow frame causes a corresponding rocking of the motor platform. From this construction it follows, that any tendency of the snow to lift the forward end of the plow frame causes the rear end of the motor platform 5 to move downwardly, thus through the springs ll] increasing the load on the rear wheelsof the truck and at the same time increasing the tractive effect of the latter. Springs l5 mounted on guide rods l6 between the plow frame and the vertical frame tend to rock the plow frame so that its forward end engages the road.

When it is desired to travel without operating the snow plow, rods l! are provided connected with the snow plow frame and slidably extending through holes in the vertical frame I I, have nuts l8 threaded thereon, which when screwed up will cause the rods IT to rock the plow frame to raise its forward end from the ground.

The forward end of the plow frame will pref erably be provided with supporting skids or shoes l9 and these shoes are preferably adjustable to and from the frame to regulate the distance of the forward end of the plow frame from the ground.

The snow plow proper consists in a pair of spaced rotary cutters 2B which are arranged to propel the snow to the blower housing 2|, arranged between the cutters. These rotary cutters are each mounted in a housing 22 open at the front to permit the snow to be engaged by the rotary cutter. Within the blower housing the fan 23 is rotated and blows the snow to the outlet 24, which is adjustble so that it may discharge to either side of the plow as desired. The upper part of the front of the blower housing is preferably wedge shaped to divert the snow to either rotary cutter. The lower part may also be closed and wedge-shaped, although I show it open as the fan may itself act as a cutter to remove the lower part of the snow in front of the housing.

The fan is preferably formed with a central disk 25 and has a series of blades 26 at each side, which are stiffened by means of a smaller outer disk 21. By this arrangement the large centre disk not only stiffens the fan blades, but prevents the formation of cross air currents which interfere with the entry of snow from either cutter.

The cutters at their lower ends are provided with an annular disk 28 preferably provided with teeth to facilitate the breaking up of any hard lumps adjacent the bottom of the rotary cutters. The cutters are provided with replaceable cutter blades 29 which, as shown in Fig. 14, are mounted between the face plates 38 and the bracing plates 3| and secured by bolts 32. These cutter blades are preferably double-edged as shown, so that when one end becomes worn or dull, the blades may be reversed and the other edges brought into use. The cutters may be internally strengthened as may be found necessary.

The fan 23 is driven from the motor 6 through the shaft 33, the chain driven gears 34 and 35, the shaft 36, the bevel pinion 31 and the bevel gear 38 on the fan shaft 39. The cutters 20 are driven, as will be seen from Fig. 5, from the fan shaft 39 by the chain 40 which engages the pinion 4| on the cross shaft 42, which is provided with a pinion 43 at each end which drives the bevel gear 44 on the end of the cutter shaft 45.

In front of the plow, is a pivoted cutter-carrying bar 46, which, as shown in Figs. '6 and 7, carries a plurality of prongs 4! which are removably secured between brackets 48 secured to the bar 46. This carrying bar 46 is preferably provided with skids 48 to facilitate its movement along the road.

In Figs. 4, 8, and 9 I show a modified form of auxiliary cutter for very hard snow. The carrying bar 46 carries above it a second bar 49, and pivoted in these bars are vertical shafts 50, which are provided with bevel pinions 5| which are driven from bevel gears 52 on a horizontal shaft 53, which may be driven by any suitable means (not shown) from the horizontal shaft42 (shown in Fig. 5) or other convenient shaft. This shaft 53 is journalled in end brackets 54 extending upwardly from the bars 46.

On each of these vertical shafts between the bars 46 and 49 is a rotary saw 55, to out ice or hard snow adjacent the road surface. These saws are preferably provided with replaceable teeth to facilitate repair in case of damage or wear. These saws are also preferably provided with shoulders 58 which tend to break off pieces of snow Or ice cut by the saws. Between each saw 55 on the upper bar 49 is a prong 56 mounted similarly to the prongs 41. On each vertical shaft 50 is mounted a series of hooked arms 51 which pick and loosen the snow, so that it will readily pass to the main rotary cutters 20.

In working in soft snow, the auxiliary cutting mechanism shown in Figs. 6 and 7, or 8 and 9 may be dispensed with.

In working in very light snow of little depth, it may be unnecessary to operate the cutters and blower, and in this case I may mount in front thereof the scraper 58 as shown in Figs. 12' and 13. While this scraper is shown as being of V-shape, it will be apparent that a scraper for discharging to one side only may be employed.

- In working in snow of a depth greater than the height of the rotary cutters 20, I provide what I term the high cutter mechanism shown in Figs. 1, 3 and 5 which comprises a rotary picker comprising a shaft 59 on which are mounted a plurality of pickers (it. This shaft 59 has a sprocket 6i thereon which is driven by means of a chain from a sprocket on the-shaft 39.

Behind this rotary picker are a pair of conveyors 62 which convey the snow to an opening 63 in the top of the fan housing, just in front of the outlet 24, through which the snow passes to the fan and is carriedcompletely around to the outlet. Except in very deep snow, this high cutter mechanism will not be operated and when not in operation the opening 63 will be kept closed by a special cover not shown.

The auxiliary cutters shown in Figs. 6 to 9 are preferably provided with means to hold them in working position, or to lift them out of action as may be desired. This means comprises rods 64 connected at their lower ends to the carrying bar 46. The upper ends of these rods are connected with eccentrics 65 mounted on a transverse shaft 66, which is rotated by means of a worm and gear 61 operated by a shaft 68 which preferably extends to a position convenient to the truck driver. The rods 64 are preferably sufficient to hold the auxiliary cutters in their working position.

It will be apparent that many changes may be made in the details of construction without departing from the spirit of the invention. For example, the method of driving the various moving parts may be considerably varied. Inthe mechanism break pins or other safety devices may be employed to prevent damage to the apparatus in case of jamming through unbreakable objects being drawn into the apparatus.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. In snow removing apparatus, the combination of' a truck chassis; a platform pivoted at one end on said chassis; a motor on said platform; a snow plow frame pivoted on the front end of said chassis independently of said platform; and connections between said snow plow frame and platform to cause said snow plow frame and platform to rock simultaneously.

2. In snow removing apparatus-the combina-.

tion of a truck chassis having an engine housing at its forward end and a drivers cab in the rear of said housing; a platform pivoted at its forward end on said chassis at the rear of said cab, a motor on said platform; a snow plow frame pivoted on said chassis in front of the engine housing; and connections between said plow frame and platform adapted to cause said frame and platform to rock simultaneously.

3. In snow-removing apparatus, the combination of a supporting frame; a pair of spaced rotary cutters on said frame having their axes vertically arranged; and a blower comprising a housing and a rotary fan, said housing being positioned between said cutters and having an inlet in each side to receive snow from said cutters, the axis of the fan being arranged transversely of the frame.

4. In snow-removing apparatus, the combination of a supporting frame; a pair of spaced rotary cutters on said frame having their axes vertically arranged; and a blower comprising a housing and a rotary fan, said housing being positioned between said cutters and having an inlet in each side to receive snow from said cutters, the axis of the fan being arranged transversely of the frame, said fan having a central partition and a series of blades at each side of said partition.

5. In snow-removing apparatus, the combination of a supporting frame; a pair of spaced rotary cutters on said frame having their axes vertically arranged; and a blower comprising a housing and a rotary fan, said housing being positioned between said cutters and having an inlet in each side to receive snow from said cutters, the axis of the fan being arranged transversely of the frame, said blower housing having a V- shaped forward end to direct snow sidewise into the path of the rotary cutters.

tion of a supporting frame; a pair of spaced rotary cutters on said frame having their axes vertically arranged; and a blower comprising a housing and a rotary fan, said housing being positioned between said cutters and having an inlet in each side to receive snow from said cutters, the axis of the fan being arranged transversely of the frame, and a rotary kicker journalled on a horizontal axis above said cutters and blower adapted to knock snow downwardly in front of said cutters and fan housing.

' ROBERT E. COLE. 

